English 1201  Pun, hyperbole, allusion, satire, bias, situational irony

pun – a humorous play on words

 Ex.  Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now.  I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.  I'm glad I know sign language, it's pretty handy.  There was a sign on the lawn at a drug re- hab center that said 'Keep off the Grass'.  I spent too much time online and now I’m caught in the net.

 hyperbole -- intended exaggeration used to create a desired effect such as humour or sarcasm.

 Ex:  “Well now, one winter it was so cold that all the geese flew backward and all the fish moved south and even the snow turned blue. Late at night, it got so frigid that all spoken words froze solid afore they could be heard. People had to wait until sunup to find out what folks were talking about the night before.” -Paul Bunyan in Babe, The Blue Ox

 allusion -- a reference, within a literary work, to another work of fiction, a film, a piece of art, or even a real event or person. An allusion draws on outside sources to provide greater context or meaning to the selection.

 Ex:  Oh, stop being such a Romeo  Walking thought the zoo reminded Allan of Noah's Ark

 satire -- a literary work that criticizes human misconduct and ridicules vices (habits), stupidities, and follies.

 bias -- having a preference to one particular point of view or ideological perspective. (a prejudice)

 Ex:  All politicians are dishonest.  All dogs are vicious.

 situational irony – An occasion in which the outcome is significantly different from what was expected or considered appropriate. Mere coincidence is generally not ironic; neither is mere surprise, nor are any random or arbitrary occurrences.

 Ex. “The Gift of the Magi” (She sells her hair to buy a fob for his watch and he sells his watch to buy combs for her hair)